It was like an invisible bomb had gone off. Naturally, I was helpless to do anything about it. My Safety Rings protected me from the shock wave and the deafening sound, but I could hear the slight sound of cracks forming in the arena’s barrier. The other me and the Clerics surrounding him were thrown into the air. I couldn’t see much through the clouds of dust everywhere, but I could hear Krahi’s voice.
“Wh-What are you doing?! Your match hasn’t begun! And what power is this?”
I could only stumble around in the dust. Though you could say that about me at any point in time, past, present, and future. I kept on hearing explosions. A few times, I saw a barrier flash before me, suggesting that the shock waves were enough to trigger a Safety Ring. It looked like I was going to die in a state of confusion, and unfortunately, I didn’t know what I could do about it. That was a frequent problem for me.
I started by hiding behind a pillar and taking deep breaths. I told myself to stay calm, that this was supposed to be my battle. I just had to resolve one thing at a time, then maybe it would all clear up.
I’ve got it! I’ll grovel!
“Urk! Get a hold of yourself,” I heard Krahi say. “Firmamental Maw!”
A massive bolt fell from the heavens. Ansem wasn’t close enough, so it naturally was drawn to me. Though my Safety Rings protected me, the archway above my head began to fall apart.
“That wasn’t— Augh!” Krahi cried amid the screams of the audience.
“I wanted to know what you might be capable of,” the masked man said, shoulders heaving. “But that’s it? Laughable!”
The blasts continued, though all I could see was swirling dust. I heard the heavens’ cry and Krahi’s strained voice. “I won’t let you win!”
He was planning to use a big lightning spell.
“Krahi! Be sure to watch where you’re aiming!” I called before I could stop myself.
“AHHH! HEAVEN’S THUNDER!”
Light filled the sky, and the arena shook violently. What a terrifying spell. When I told Krahi to watch where he was aiming, it wasn’t that I wanted him to hit the bad guy, so much as I just didn’t want him to hit me. My Safety Rings ensured I didn’t get zapped, though if not for my chain Relics, the bolts probably wouldn’t have been drawn to me in the first place. The only other defense I had against lightning was Ansem the lightning rod, but he wasn’t close enough.
Man, who in the world is this guy in the mask?
One last blast hit me to no effect, and then they stopped.
“I don’t believe it,” Krahi gasped. “I was sure my spells found their mark. How do you still stand after being struck so many times?!”
“It’s futile,” the masked man said. “If it’s the heavens you manipulate, then it’s the firmament that my hands guide! Now learn what it means to incur my wrath!”
My eyes flew open. I felt like the puzzle pieces had finally fallen into place. I had a moment of doubt, but I became certain—this masked man was some bigwig from the Fox Mask Fan Club. I hadn’t meant to impersonate him and issue a bunch of orders in his name, but I could see why he might be angry about it.
I didn’t know exactly why he was going after Krahi, but given the similarity of our titles, it was pretty likely the masked man had gotten some bad info. I knew what that was like; I dealt with miscommunications all the time.
Darn it, Sora, this is why I told you to apologize and clear up any misunderstandings right away.
To be fair, this guy must’ve been a little off if he thought showing up in the middle of the tournament was a good idea. Was the Fox Mask Fan Club nothing but weirdos? That was fine, but they should’ve learned not to cause trouble for others.
Now that it had come to this, I didn’t see any solutions but to give an honest-to-goodness apology. The issue was that doing that in the middle of a battle was easier said than done. There were shouts and screams, blasts and bolts, the ground trembled. The shock waves alone were enough to send someone like me flying back, and I didn’t think there were many people with Safety Rings, meaning that nobody was going to get between these two, even if their fight wasn’t ordained by the tournament.
But I knew I’d feel bad if I made Krahi take care of everything. I knew what it was like to get told off even when you hadn’t done anything.
Now’s the time to use that.
In other words, I didn’t know what to do.
“There’s nothing you can do now,” said a voice.
I felt something prod my leg, where I looked down and saw Little Sister Fox staring up at me. Her white robe was stained with dirt and tattered at places, but she didn’t appear to be hurt. I was too baffled for words.
Squirming, she said in a low voice, “I made myself look like you.”
Ah! So the collapsed me had been this girl, transformed to look like me. I had personally witnessed that power once before, so I should have realized it sooner. Though this didn’t explain why.
Seeing that I still didn’t entirely follow, she quickly added, “I turned into you. Then lost. To damage your reputation.”
“You what?”
In part due to her mask, I couldn’t read her expression, but her tail told me everything I needed to know.
So she’s a good kid after all?
“Th-Thanks? I appreciate it.”
Little Sister Fox recoiled, her ears sprouting from her head reflexively. She had intuited that I didn’t want to be part of the tournament, went in my place, and even damaged my reputation by losing. I wasn’t sure what I could say to her. I had taken her for a fried tofu fiend, but she turned out to be an awfully smart cookie. Good thing we (and by “we,” I mean Sora) made all that tofu.
“Y-You’re kidding,” she said, taking a step back.
“No, I mean it,” I said exuberantly. “I was losing my mind over the Supreme Warrior Festival. I didn’t know what I was gonna do. But now that I’ve lost, I can just walk away. I can’t tell you what a relief that is.”
That’s to say nothing of the reputational damage. Now all that was left was for me to get that masked man to forgive me. Unless this little fox was willing to take care of that as well? Without thinking, I reached to touch her ears, but she batted my hand away.
She trembled with anger, but when she spoke, her voice was like ice. “I hate you, Mr. Caution.”
“Huh?”
“Mr. Caution has no sense of caution.”
Is that a catchphrase or something? Well, you can stop it. Even I can tell when I’m in danger.
“I’m just used to this,” I told her.
“Remember this,” she said and turned around, her tail brushing against my leg.
The next moment, everything shifted. My legs wobbled and I only just barely managed to stay on my feet. I felt the hit of another cacophonous blast of lighting and another Safety Ring activating. If my count was correct, I had just one left.
I looked up and saw the masked man standing within arm’s reach of me. I thought my heart was going to stop, but it seemed I wasn’t the only one taken by surprise. He fell back, moving as though he could slide across the ground.
I looked around, trying to figure out what had happened as quickly as I could. From what I could tell, Little Sister Fox had sent me right into the middle of the chaos. Those talents were wasted on her.
I thought putting on a hard-boiled smile would be a good first step. “Would you look at that. She is a good kid after all.”
If only she had given me a moment to prepare myself.
***
This unexpected development in an already shocking match caused a commotion among the crowd. Almost nobody seemed to understand what was going on. In the Supreme Warrior Festival, upsets occurred from time to time, as did attacks on a challenger, but nobody had ever broken into the ring.
From a luxury box placed far from and high above the ring, Rodrick Atolm Zebrudia watched the incoherent fight. “So you’ve come, Fox,” he groaned. “Awfully bold to show yourself in front of so many people.”
“I never thought they might interrupt the tournament,” Franz said. He was grimacing now, but earlier he had been just a bit pleased to see the Thousand Tricks on the back foot.
However, Murina had something very different on her mind.
Hm? That mask. That’s the one the Thousand Tricks was wearing earlier.
She wasn’t experiencing something like the brutal training she had endured recently, nor was she in a violent battle like she had been the day before yesterday, but she was nonetheless breaking out in a cold sweat.
She knew her father had been struggling with a conflict involving some organization known as “Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox,” but she didn’t know anything more than that. Actually, she had made an effort not to know. She thought that if she knew anything, her bad luck might invite a turn for the worse. So she kept to herself and watched the bout.
“That man, his mask is just like what that phantom in the treasure vault wore,” Rodrick remarked.
“So it seems there’s some truth to the rumors that they bear some connection to that treasure vault,” Franz said.
Murina thought back on recent events. There had been the harsh training, then after leaving the imperial capital, the Thousand Tricks suddenly donned the mask he had obtained from the vault. Some strange group had been dispatched to fight alongside Grieving Souls and Knights of the Torch, and they all wore fox masks while they worked. It hadn’t just been them, their enemies had also donned various vulpine masks.
Now that she had been relieved of her duties, questions began to pop up. What were those people? What in the world had she been fighting? She hadn’t paid it any mind until now. Being abruptly forced to command a hundred or so people hadn’t left her with the luxury to consider what any of it was all for. Just to overcome the new Trial had monopolized her brain.
She had heard Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox was a capable and elusive organization; surely, so many of them wouldn’t come out at once like that. Still, Murina was wracked with uncertainty.
“Look how he’s remained unharmed even after being hit with so many bolts of lightning. What skill,” Rodrick said with a grave look.
“I’d assume it’s the result of some machination of his,” Franz replied.
The onslaught of lighting was truly something to behold. Lightning magic was considered the magic of champions. It wasn’t easy to learn, but the might it commanded was enough to make up for its difficulties.
This Krahi fellow’s name sounded like a bad joke, but his power was authentic. Even after her training, Murina wouldn’t have lasted a minute in the face of such a thunderstorm. If the Supreme Warrior Festival was an event for people like this, Murina was all the more certain that the Thousand Tricks was insane if he had wanted her to participate.
Likewise, this man in the fox mask must be something of a freak if he was so unconcerned by the deadly bolts. His clothes were burned here and there, but the man himself showed no signs of damage. How could he have so easily taken a hit that had even knocked back the Thousand Tricks, who was known for his Absolute Barrier?
No. Wait a minute, Murina thought, her cheek twitching. Didn’t the Thousand Trials have a reputation for pushing people to their very limits? And the Thousand Tricks had initially wanted her in this tournament. But according to Sitri, Murina’s development had failed to meet expectations. Could it be that commanding those people wasn’t the original Trial? Was it supposed to be this gauntlet?! But had they changed course partway? Changed course to this?
“But the Thousand Tricks is unharmed as well...” Franz argued.
He was right. After being knocked down by that breathtaking golden lance, the Thousand Tricks was now unhurt and standing before the masked man. He had put Murina through the ringer, but this was her first time seeing him in action.
For a moment, it almost seemed as if Krai had lost to Krahi. Had her training been changed because he realized Murina could never beat the Lightning Magus? How much of this was according to plan? She couldn’t begin to guess what was supposed to happen and what was improvised.
Without realizing it, Murina had gotten out of her seat, entranced by the battle below.
“Your Imperial Highness, you might fall if you lean too far,” Franz warned her.
Murina answered without a moment’s hesitation. “There’s no need to worry, Sir Franz. Now, I must see how this ends.”
Franz was briefly taken aback but corrected himself. “As you wish. I’ll ensure nothing happens to you.”
Down there, two figures of unfathomable superhuman capabilities were facing off. After quickly knocking down Krahi, the masked man was now keeping a wary eye on Krai.
“You might call it Absolute Defense versus Hyper Recovery,” Franz commented.
The masked man’s attacks were invisible. He didn’t strike with lightning or fire. They had been able to watch the flow of air and discern what sort of powers he had. But that was only thanks to the clouds of dust. Had the air been clean, they would’ve been left without a clue.
Krahi lay collapsed behind Krai. He still gripped his staff, but his limbs were twisted in ways they shouldn’t be. Krahi and Murina had been comrades in arms, so she hoped he might come out of this alive.
Just then, Franz relayed a message he had received from a guard. “Your Imperial Majesty, we’ve requested permission to mobilize our forces. Though forming up on such short notice won’t be easy.”
“Blast these Kreatians. They balked at our request for more guards even after we warned them something might happen!”
“The guards with us have been placed throughout the arena. The Fox won’t get away.”
“Very well. However, if they choose to fly, then there’s nothing we can do about it,” Franz said, though he didn’t look happy to admit it.
The people Murina had fought last night were most likely just grunts, but they had shown her the might of Fox. Zebrudia’s soldiers were the best out there, but Fox had among many things a numerical advantage. She believed this duel was happening because the Thousand Tricks had made it play out this way.
“We’ve also requested the aid of the other challengers,” Franz added. “Though I don’t know how many will be willing to cooperate.”
“Don’t worry. This is likely how the Thousand Tricks planned it to go.”
“What do you mean, Your Imperial Highness?!”
“You just have to watch closely. If I’m right, he tends to be a bit...excessive.”
She still thought this was overboard if this really was supposed to have been her Trial.
“I see. I had a feeling something was off,” the masked man said in a booming voice. “That one wasn’t quite how I pictured the man who decided to go to war with us. But you’re the real one, aren’t you? It doesn’t matter. You’re simply one more obstacle I have to rid myself of.”
The Thousand Tricks didn’t say anything, he only grinned. Unconcerned, he brazenly looked the masked man straight in the eye, creating a striking contrast between the two. After a brief moment, he said, “First, let me start by apologizing. I never thought something like this might happen.”
He was looking at the man in the mask, but the nature of those words led Murina to believe that they were directed at Krahi.
The man took a cautious step back. He spoke in a quiet, spiteful voice. “One or two of you won’t make a difference. Regret your folly and die.”
“Don’t get so angry. I did something wrong. I shouldn’t have been so silly. But hear me out, the way you run your organization is also part of the problem here.”
“What?!”
The heavens flashed. A brilliant crackle that outshone any previous bolts struck not the man in the mask, but the Thousand Tricks. Murina gasped. Franz stared in shock. The masked man retreated a step. However, Krai remained unperturbed even after receiving what approached divine retribution. Raised in the air, Krahi’s arm fell limply.
“I’ll apologize, so could you forgive me?” the Thousand Tricks continued like absolutely nothing had happened.
“Hm. I see.” The masked man’s breath was ragged. “You’re quite different from the fake one. But can you stay calm after seeing this?” he said and drew his sword.
“How could he have Key of the Land?!” Franz said in a trembling voice. “The Thousand Tricks was supposed to be keeping it safe!”
“Franz, order the Magi to take defensive measures!” Rodrick ordered.
Wasn’t the Protean Sword swinging that around like a toy? Murina thought, but couldn’t under any circumstances say it out loud.
It must have been something fairly dangerous, or her father wouldn’t have risen from his chair and begun issuing orders. “If what we’ve read is true, evacuating now won’t save us! Stop that man or this land could be destroyed!”
Murina was powerless. In spite of all her training, there was nothing she could do. Just as she began to clench her fist with frustration, one of the imperial guards dashed into their box.
“Captain, we’re under attack!” he said while regaining his breath. “Assailants in fox masks. And Princess Murina!”
Franz immediately looked at Murina, who just blinked in surprise. Once the guard was breathing steadily, he gave a proper report.
“The, uh, fake Princess Murina is engaging the assailants!”
***
Zebrudia was a grand nation and the imperial family that ran it had produced extraordinary individuals for generations. The prosperity they brought made the imperials immensely popular among their subjects, who took pride in their great leaders. But if there was one weak link in the imperial family, it was Princess Murina.
There were other children in the imperial family, but Murina was clearly the odd one out. She was frail, rarely made public appearances, and kept contact with other people to a minimum. She lacked the martial prowess necessary to members of her family and was the only one of her siblings to not exhibit any particular talents.
To top it all off, she received special treatment from the emperor. He always assigned the best of the imperial guard to her and took her with him to conferences. In Zebrudia, weakness was a sin, but the emperor made an exception for her.
So it was only natural that Fox chose to target her.
It was hard to dislodge a mighty country that built its prosperity on the golden age of treasure hunting. Emperor Rodrick was an unshakable figure. He had some of the best guards available and he himself was no slouch; assassinating him wouldn’t come without a high price. Even should those efforts succeed, a formidable heir would be ready to take his place. The new emperor could rally their subjects, angered by the loss of their leader, and obliterate the weakened Fox.
Hence the imperial princess falling into the crosshairs. If she were to be killed, the people would direct their focus to her father, who had been protecting her. This would show the strength of Fox and form cracks in the foundation of Zebrudia. They chose to attack when her protection would be at its thinnest—while the boss was carrying out the other plan.
The security at the Supreme Warrior Festival was sparse, and the imperial family didn’t have many of their guards with them. The spectators would normally hinder an attack like this, but they were all fixated on the boss. They would achieve maximum effect for minimal effort.
Or so they had intended.
“You’re kidding me...”
“Kill, kill?”
The Fox had instantly closed the gap and swung at her with a shortsword, but she had deflected it, an odd look on her face. In her pale hand was a sword she had retrieved from one of her collapsed guards.
Looking back, this had seemed fishy. The number and quality of the guards weren’t what you would expect to see around a VIP like the imperial princess.
“No one told us she could swing a sword.”
“I heard the Thousand Tricks had given her lessons. Is this why they didn’t give her more protection?”
The guards were down. All they had to do was kill the imperial princess, and there were three of them and one of her. Yet she still stood.
The assassin had only deflected a single blow, yet his arm was numb. The imperial princess being capable of so much force despite having such slender arms could only have been the result of mana material.
The assassins had mistaken their priorities. When they had the element of surprise, they should have used it to kill her, not her guards. They shouldn’t have given her room to act. But it was too late for regrets. They should have been able to avoid this, but without Galf, their information network was lacking.
“We can’t tell the boss we couldn’t even kill the imperial princess,” the assassin said to his comrades. At the same moment, two of them simultaneously went in for a pincer attack. The princess twirled. A novice might trip over their feet if they tried such a maneuver, but she moved almost like she was dancing.
The assassins swung with all their might, but she deflected both strikes. Twirling would normally do nothing but leave one exposed, yet what looked like a half-cocked move had fended off both attacks.
“Kill, kill, kill.”
Nothing about her visual tracking skills, strength, or trained movements suggested she was someone used to being protected. Besides that, her attacks had none of the hesitation that marked those of an amateur and her clear eyes showed no fear. If they gave her an opportunity, she would take it and end them. What was all that talk of her being timid and lacking talent?
The princess lowered her stance, then dashed forward, a glint of murderous intent in her eyes. “Kill, kill?”
The assassin met her blade with his and managed to fend her off. A series of metallic clashes echoed about, each exchange a burden to bear. To make it all worse, each swing was stronger than the last. Was she still not giving this her all? Even when attacked from her blind spots, she evaded as though she had eyes in the back of her head or some other hidden talent. This couldn’t be a human they were fighting.
Then, they heard someone snap their fingers. That was the signal. The assassin deflected a blow, then moved back. He briefly saw the princess’s eyes widen before she was engulfed by black flames. Without so much as a scream, she was lit like a torch, the result of a spell cast by another assassin.
“If even a mere princess of the imperial family can do this...” one of them said while breathing heavily.
“But we’ve done our job. Let’s fall back—”
Before the assassin could finish his sentence, the blazing princess staggered forward and tackled one of them.
“KILL!”
“What?! That was an advanced spell!”
“Killkillkillkillkill...”
The princess sat atop the collapsed assassin and hit him over and over again before hopping off. It was like something out of a nightmare. The scent of burning flesh was powerful. Still ablaze, but no longer holding a blade, the princess attacked another one of the assassins. Her eyes shone through the umbral flames.
“That can’t be human,” one of them said.
Were the rumors of her mediocrity all a bluff? Was the empire keeping this a secret?
“Retreat! We’re retreating!”
There was no hope for the one on the ground. They couldn’t carry him and save themselves. The assassins ran as fast as they could.
“Kill. K-Ki-ll. Gill. Gillgillgill. Ki. Ill.”
How could she still move? The mass of black flames roared as it chased after them.
***
I was starting to think that maybe this time we really were screwed. I stood in the increasingly dangerous arena, determined to fulfill my obligation to apologize. I was out of Safety Rings. Krahi, the source of the bolt that drained my last ring, was passed out behind me. Had I done something to make him hate me?
I might’ve been out of Safety Rings, but I couldn’t fall back—I hadn’t yet said I was sorry. I wasn’t here to fight, I was here to grovel! I was here to offer a genuine apology straight from the heart! Being able to attack even after seeing my pathetic groveling was something very few people—actually, no, lots of people managed to do. Still, running wasn’t an option, because I was second to none when it came to getting stabbed in the back.
I hadn’t yet groveled, but my apologetic aura caused the Fox Mask Fan Club President (temp. name)’s voice to tremble. “Hm. I see. You’re quite different from the fake one. But can you stay calm after seeing this?”
The club president drew his sword. That alone summoned a whirlwind in a mere second. I covered my eyes to protect them from the dust and biting gales. Holding it in a reverse grip, the club president raised it with the flat edge facing me, showing me a geometric pattern that I recognized. The Relic that struck fear into the empire—Key of the Land.
“This land will be brought to ruin. What an inane assumption, the notion that nobody could harness this Relic’s power.”
I realized the sword had summoned a cyclone, and it was just the two of us inside it. The howling wind, rattling sand, and sheer force of it cordoned us off in a world of our own. Though after playing around with so many Relics, swords among them, I could tell he wasn’t using even the tiniest smidgen of its power.
“I see you’re not without a bit of knowledge. You’d be right if you guessed that I haven’t even activated Key of the Land.” What happened to all that talk of the Relic being unchargeable? And why didn’t anyone come to help me? “This Relic has brought more than a few past civilizations to their knees. Just a fraction of its devastating power is more than sufficient to obliterate this meager town!”
Yeah, but what did this town ever do to you?
Sure, Sora had messed up by mistaking me for her boss and all that, and sure I shared some responsibility for confusing things further, but Kreat had nothing to do with all that.
“Quit it! There’s no point to this!” I said. “This was my bad. I admit I was wrong, so let’s move on. I didn’t mean anything! I’m sorry! No, I’m incredibly sorry!”
“Why do you insist...”
I looked up and saw the club president was the same as ever. It looked like apologizing wasn’t going to work, so I had to change my approach. I didn’t know how the club president had obtained his Key of the Land, but I had one of my own. I didn’t think I could intimidate him, but if his destructive impulses were rooted in his powerful Relic, then seeing another instance might affect him.
I drew my Key of the Land, and thrust it out before him, causing him to freeze.
“What a coincidence,” I said, “I’ve got one too. Needless to say, mine is charged.”
The club president’s reaction was clear as day. Every bit of him was trembling. “What? Impossible,” he hissed. “How?”
Nothing impossible about it. I had one and that was the reality. It wasn’t rare for multiple instances of the same Relic to exist. Though the likelihood was lower when it came to super-powerful Relics, it wasn’t zero.
For once, it seemed I had made the right choice, but I couldn’t take much solace in that. Perhaps it was my lack of Safety Rings, but if he was going to forgive me, I was hoping he would hurry up and relax. None of this whirlwind stuff was necessary. I just wanted him to see that we shared a common bond in Relic ownership, then forgive me. I wasn’t here to fight.
The club president looked between my sword and his, eliminating any room for doubt. Same name, same Relic. It occurred to me that when you counted the one in the museum, there were three of these things. You didn’t see something like that every day.
Just as these thoughts crossed my mind, the club president whispered in a seething voice. “Wh-What?”
The Relic he was supposed to be holding was no longer there. I can say with confidence that I never took my eyes off it. The next moment, I caught a whiff of something pleasant, something I had smelled quite a bit lately.
The club president opened his hand and a small, square, golden-brown object fell to the ground. He looked at it vacantly. I made sure I wasn’t crazy. I furrowed my brow, questioned my eyes, doubted my own brain. It was a cut of fried tofu. A square of beautifully made, delicious-looking, fried tofu.
The heck is going on? What do I do? How do you react to something like this?
“H-Hey, you dropped something tasty-looking,” I said.
He didn’t say anything.
“I-I’m sure that’s just how the Relic works. You didn’t do anything wrong,” I tried. “I’m certain Key of the Land is just an item that turns into fried tofu! I’ll bet mine does the same thing!”
With a short grunt, the club president slowly lifted his head. Though partially hidden by a mask, his face was the scariest I had ever seen. The back of my neck tingled and I unconsciously got ready to grovel. I had no powers and had made up for many mistakes by kowtowing. I couldn’t think on my feet and apologizing was the only skill I had really refined.
I began to bend my knees, holding my hands out before me, lowering my waist, and lowering my head. I had done this tens—maybe hundreds of times—and had even practiced on occasion. This was looking to be the most splendid groveling I had ever done—if my knees hadn’t buckled partway.
“Ah.”
“Hm?!”
I fell forward. I closed my eyes when I saw the ground approaching fast, and held out my hands. Except I was holding Key of the Land in my right hand. The blade was devoured by the ground and a shock wave followed in the wake of its disappearance.
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